Mail-box.



PATENTED DEC. 24, 1907.

6. A. WIRT. MAIL BOX. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.1 7, 1906.

8mm G earye fl. Wirt "HIE NORRIS PETERS 50.. wAsHmcrou, nv c.

GEORGE A. WIRT, OF GREENSBURG, INDIANA.

MAIL-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 17; 1906. Serial No. 334.832.

Patented Dec. 24, 1907.

pose of purchasing postage stamps and that provision must be made whereby the mailreceiving receptacle, together with the money-holder, shall be perfectly protected from all weather conditions so that no rain, sleet or snow may enter the mail receptacle, and such that the covering may be readily opened and closed by the carrier, remaining in either open or closed positions even though the box be covered with ice or sleet. It is also desirable that the money receptacle be of such character that the carrier may open the same and remove the contents thereof ness. It is also desirable that the structure may be commercially produced in a substantial form at a minimum expense.

The obj ect of my present invention is therefore to provide a box having the facilities and qualities indicated.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention; Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved box, a portion of the cover being broken away to show the interior construction; Fig. 2 is an'end elevation; and Fig. 3, a section, on an enlarged scale, on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 10 indicates the mail receptacle, said receptacle being substantially a cylinder formed of sheet metal, the edges being turned back upon the sheet as at 10 to form a mouth M giving access to the interior of the box. The receptacle is completed by an end plate 11 at each end of the cylinder formed by the sheet 10. In order to support the mail receptacle with its mouth M inclined away from the vertical, I provide a casing formed of a sheet of metal bent to form a bottom 12, a front side 13 and an upwardly and rearwardly inclined side 14, which at the point X is turned'upward to form lip 14, the formation being such that the bottom 12 touches and supports the cylinder 10 at its lowermost point; the plate 14 touches the cylinder at an intermediate point so that a rivet or rivets 15 may be passed therethrough-to hold the parts in place, and the upper end of the lip 14 engages the cylinder at about its vertical middle at its rear side so that a rivet or rivets 16 may be passed therethrough so that the two sets of rivets 15 and 16 hold the receptacle 1O firmly within the holder formed by the plate 1213-14. The holder is completed at each end by an end plate 50. At the angle f the parts 1414 lie away from the cylinder 10 so as to form a chamber 17 which extends-longituw dinally of the cylinder and the point s so located that the chamber 17 1S practically at the apex of an isosceles triangle having the mouth M for a base, for a reason which will appear.

In order that the box may be conveniently attached to the upper end of a post, I secure to the portion 14 a downwardly extended plate 18 and to the part 13 a downwardly extending plate 19 connecting these plates at their ends by end plates 20, thus forming a chamber adapted to receive a board 21 secured to an upper end of the post 22, the receptacle being held upon the board 21 by means of nails passed through openings 23 formed in the end plates 20.

The plate 19 is provided, at its upper end, with a forwardly and downwardly projecting lip 19 which-forms a support for the cover.

The cover is substantially cylindrical in form, being formed of a plate 23, which, in its upper portion, is substantially cylindrical, and of a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the receptacle 10. The forward edge of plate 25, however, is downturned substantially vertically to form a front 26 and a downwardly and forwardly projecting lip '26 adapted to rest upon the lip 19 and being preferably doubled back upon itself to stiffen portions 26 and 26, as shown in Fig. 3. At the rear edge of plate 25 said plate is extended downwardly, as at 27, to a point substantially level with, or slightly below, the point X and is thence flared downwardly and rearwardly as at 28.

The cover is completed by an end plate 29 at each end which fits within the plate 25 and its deflected edges.

In order to support the cover I provide a pivot 30 which is passed through the end plates 29 and 50. If a single rod for the pivot is passed through chamber 17 its ends are slightly upset in order to hold it in place. The pivot 30 being located substantially at the apex of an isosceles triangle, having the mouth M as a base, it will become immediately apparent that the cover will be free to swing from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the deflected portion 28 coming into engagement with plate 14, so as to limit the opening movement of the cover, and that the part 26 of the cover will freely pass the receptacle 10 at a point adjacent to the upper side of mouth M.

In order to hold the cover in either open or closed position, its center of gravity should pass across the vertical plane of the pivot 30 during the opening or closing movement, and in order to insure this I provide a counter-weight 40 located within the cover, to the front of the vertical plane of the pivot 30 when the cover is in closed position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and to the rear of said vertical plane when the cover is open, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and, in order that the carrier may open the box easily and quickly, I place the counter-weight only slightly in advance of the pivot plane when the cover is closed, so that a very small initial movement of the cover toward opening position will carry the weight across the pivot plane and the rest of the opening movement will be automatic.

By placing the pivot 30 substantially at the apex of an isosceles triangle having the mouth M as its base, the cover will be free to swing from a position where the downturned lip 26 fits closely against the lower edge of the mouth, to a position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8, where said portion of the cover entirely clears the mouth end so that it is accessible throughout its entirety.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination, in a mail box, of a main substantially cylindrical receptacle, having an upwardly inclined mouth in one side thereof, a support therefor, a cover member incasing said main receptacle and extending below the lower edge of the mouth there of, and a pivotal connection between the incasing cover and the receptacle to the rear of the receptacle and substantially parallel with the mouth thereof, said pivotal connection being so located with relation to the mouth of the receptacle that, when the cover is thrown to open position, it will expose the mouth of the receptacle.

2. The combination, in a mail box, of a main substantially cylindrical receptacle, having an upwardly inclined mouth in one side thereof, a support therefor, a cover member incasing said main receptacle and extending below the lower edge of the mouth thereof, said casing having a substantially vertical portion adapted to engage the receptacle when in closed position and extend below the lower edge of the mouth thereof, and a pivotal connection between the incasing cover and the receptacle to the rear of the receptacle and substantially parallel with the mouth thereof, said pivotal connection being so located with relation to the mouth of the receptacle that, when the cover is thrown to open position, it will expose the mouth of the receptacle.

3. The combination, in a mail box, of a main substantially cylindrical receptacle having a longitudinally upwardly presented mouth, a holder therefor comprising the sheets 14 and 15, secured thereto and forming to the rear of the receptacle and parallel therewith, a chamber 17, a cover embracing said main receptacle, and a pivot pin extending through said chamber 17 and engaging the cover, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, in a mail box, of a main substantially cylindrical receptacle having a longitudinally upwardly presented mouth, a holder therefor, comprising the sheets .14 and 15, secured thereto and forming to the rear of the receptacle and parallel therewith, a chamber 17 a cover embracing said main receptacle, and a longitudinal pivotal connection between the cover and holder in line with said chamber 17 substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 14th day of September, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and six.

GEORGE A. WIRT. 

